It outlined powerful evidence linking childhood pesticide exposure to pediatric cancers, decreased cognitive function, asthma and such behavioral problems as autism. It suggested revamping medical training and called for public-health tracking, regulatory action and continuing research on the long-term effects associated with pesticide exposure.

Yet, chances are many parents haven't heard much about it from their children's' health-care providers.

PESTICIDE-FREE GARDENING

Turn over a container of slug bait, weed-n-feed or any pesticide and a wall of itty bitty type explains a lot about how poisonous the product is. In boldface or all capitals, you might see "caution," "warning" or "danger," signal words indicating how much trouble the ingredients might cause if ingested, absorbed through the skin or inhaled, all known as acute exposures.

Labels don't address the potential risks from chronic exposures -- coming into contact with even small amounts of poisons repeatedly. Evidence mounts that such exposures may be linked to childhood cancers, asthma, decreased cognitive function, autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and other problems.

In the past, when members of the public contacted a master gardener for advice on pesticide toxicity, about all the experts could say was, "Read the label."

Now, they have a new tool.

Carl Grimm, toxics reduction planner for Metro, the regional government, and Weston Miller, community and urban horticulturist for the Oregon State University Extension Service, partnered to craft a simple guide to toxicity associated with commonly used pesticides -- a cheat sheet, if you will. It stems from the "Grow Smart/Grow Safe" consumer guide originally developed by Washington's King and Thurston counties. Metro adopted it and promotes it.

They're trying out the cheat sheet first with master gardeners in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties. Last year, tri-county area master gardeners had about 65,000 interactions with the public, so the guide could have substantial influence on pest-control decisions, Grimm says.

Once it's refined, perhaps by fall, the public will have direct access to the cheat sheet.

In the meantime, if you ask a master gardener whether it's a good idea to fight slugs or snails with metaldehyde, for instance, they'll be able to quickly share that while the molluscicide is effective at controlling the pests, it's also poisonous to mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians -- anything with a backbone. It carries the highest hazard ranking.

Iron phosphate would be a far less hazardous choice, according to the guide, though not enough data exists to know how harmful it might be to pets and wildlife.

"To have access to this information," Grimm says, "will be very empowering for gardeners to make informed choices about their pesticide use -- choices that will protect their plants, their children, their pets and the waterways they love so much.

"And/or," he says, "it will give them the information so that they decide not to use pesticides, but use the many, many alternatives."

A few smart gardening choices Grimm recommends:

** Pick the right plant for the right place and it will be more likely to thrive and protect itself from pests and diseases.

** Improve your soil with good compost and organic matter, enabling plants to be healthier and outgrow problems.

** Use tools not toxics. Dig weeds out and, Grimm says, "never dig and run. Always put a plant or mulch on top of where you've dug a weed," helping desirable plants to win out. "Bare soil is an invitation for weeds to grow."

** Pick and squish bugs. In spring and fall, he suggests going into the garden at night armed with a flashlight and scissors. "Decimate the slugs by hand -- mano-a-gastropod," he says. With aphids, "you can generally kill an aphid colony as effectively with a blast of water as you would from spraying them with most pesticides."

Metro so wants area residents to get on the natural gardening bandwagon it offers two coupons -- one for $5 off at the transfer station if you've got hazardous waste, including pesticides, in your load. To get one, contact a master gardener or call Metro Recycling information, 503-234-3000.

The second coupon, worth $5 off a purchase of $20 or more at 35 retailers, helps gardeners buy what Grimm terms "the good stuff" -- native plants, compost, hand-weeding tools and the like.

For families with children, Metro has two upcoming programs dealing with natural gardening and pesticide reduction:

**Blue Lake Natural Discovery Garden: 1 to 5 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, June through August. Free if you walk, ride a bike or take a bus there; those who drive must pay to park. Located between Marine Drive and Sandy Boulevard off Northeast 223rd Avenue.

** Oregon zoo Backyard Makeover for Wildlife Exhibit: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays through Mondays, May 31 through September, the exhibit will feature family activities and a garden educator. It's located between the Insect Zoo and Lorikeet Landing; free with zoo admission.

Metro also encourages area residents to pledge to eliminate pesticides from their gardens. In return, those who pledge get a "pesticide-free zone" yard sign.

Yet, some doctors do ask parents about chemicals used around the home and garden, encouraging them to aim for the least toxic pest-control methods.

Dr. Daniel Rappaport, a Kaiser Permanente pediatrician, says he makes a point to do so, especially as gardening season arrives. "This time of year," he says, "I try to bring it up -- often in the same sentence as, 'Don't leave any upstairs windows with just screens,'" and no child-safety guards.

Rappaport, who has four children and lives in Southwest Portland, says he doesn't use chemicals on his lawn or in his vegetable plot, choosing integrated pest management practices instead. He tells patients' parents: "If you have a choice between putting up with dandelions and weed-and-feed, I'd go with the dandelions."

Parents don't always embrace the message. "They'd rather have a green lawn without much effort," he says.

"At heart, people know this stuff is basically toxic. They just trust: '... If it's allowed to be out there, it can't be that bad.' That's unfortunately a misplaced trust."

** When exposed, a baby's immature liver and kidneys can't remove pesticides as well as an adult's organs can.

** Infants may be exposed to more pesticides than adults because they take more breaths per minute and have more skin surface, relative to body weight.

** Children spend time close to the ground, touching lawns or flower beds where pesticides have been applied, or crawling on carpet that may have been treated with pesticides.

** They're more likely than adults to put fingers, toys and other objects into their mouths.

** They eat and drink more relative to their body weight than adults, which leads to a higher dose of pesticide residue per pound of body weight.

The Oregon Poison Center at Oregon Health & Science University answered 1,281 calls about pesticide exposure cases last year and 1,578 such calls the year before. Callers asked about the toxicity of and potential treatment required for exposure to everything from boric acid and organophosphates used in insecticides to chlorophenoxy and glyphosate used in herbicides.

Such calls to poison centers nationwide typically follow acute exposures -- accidentally inhaling or ingesting pesticides or spilling the chemicals on the skin. Sometimes, such exposures lead to hospitalizations or even death.

What's tougher to pin down is whether an individual child's brain cancer, leukemia or low IQ might be the result of exposure to pesticides, even tiny amounts over many years, beginning when they're in the womb.

Many chemicals used in pesticides, however, are classified as carcinogens.

According to the pediatrics academy, evidence has mounted in the past decade that some of those chemicals are linked to everything from low birth weight to abnormal behaviors associated with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. It's policy statement says, "the influences of low-level exposures on child health are of increasing concern."

"It's so easy to go into the store and pick up a spray bottle that says 'kills bugs dead,' and people want the easy solution," says Jen Coleman, outreach director for the Oregon Environmental Council.

"Convincing folks that, even if your kid doesn't appear sick you may still be doing them harm," she says, "that's a tough message to get across."